The Black Ferns Sevens will miss the services of one of their big guns for an extended period of time.
Reigning World Rugby Women's Player of the Year Portia Woodman was scheduled for surgery on Friday, after rupturing her Achilles tendon at training earlier this week.
While there's no official recovery timetable yet, the typical rehabilitation period for such an injury can last several months.
Woodman, 27, will play no part in the Dubai leg of the world sevens series later this month and nor will Niall Williams - sister of All Black Sonny Bill Williams - who has succumbed to a knee injury.
Their absence sees the return of Gayle Broughton and Stacey Waaka - who will meet the squad in Dubai straight from the Black Ferns XVs tour in France.
Youth Olympic gold-medalwinning captain Risi Pouri-Lane is also named in the 13-player squad that travels to the UAE on Saturday.
Coach Alan Bunting said the loss of Williams and Woodman was a significant blow, but also an opportunity for other squad members to step up in their absence.
"It is a big loss, but at the same time, it's a chance to develop our depth, and we’ll see Shakira Baker, Stacey Waaka and Alena Saili get more game time," said Bunting.
"Gayle comes back in and she is looking sharp as usual, and Stacey has been with the Black Ferns. She still has one test match to play and then she'll join us, have a chance to recover and then get back into sevens.
"Risi has been with us for a year now and has been really growing as an athlete. She's coming off a great campaign at the Youth Olympic Games, so we are looking forward to her getting out there and having a crack."
The New Zealanders will share a pool with Kenya, Russia and Ireland in Dubai, which kicks off November 29.
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